Tag Archives: Luo

Mixtape #132

02 November 2021


Birthed as the solo project of Josh Trinaman, and having had different live line-ups, Luo is a duo comprising Trinaman (keys/synths, guitar and electronics) and Barney Sage (drums and keys/synths). Both musicians of extraordinary abilities, they channel a myriad of influences into their music, creating exhilarating compositions that encapsulate everything from jazz, neo-classical and post / math-rock to electronic music and video game soundtracks. Last month they released Convoluted Mess Machine, a phenomenal EP that marks a fresh step forward in their musical oeuvre, exploring new sonic territories. So we’re stoked they put together this month’s mixtape, letting us take a peek at some of the influences at play in the EP. Enjoy!

  1. Nate Smith – Pocket Change (with music by Alastair Taylor) [Water Baby Music Inc]
  2. Steve Reich – Electric Counterpoint 3 (Version for Percussions by Kuniko Kato – Live featuring Simon Philips) [Linn Records]
  3. Squarepusher – Do You Know Squarepusher? [Warp]
  4. Strobes – OK Please [Blood and Biscuits]
  5. Nate Wood – sides
  6. Efterklang – Chapter 6 [Rumraket / Leaf]
  7. Tipper – Rip Cord [Tippermusic]
  8. Sorrow – Through the Night
  9. Harry Gregson-Williams – Metal Gear Solid 2 OST (Power Room) [‎King Japan]
  10. Nobuo Uematsu – Infiltrating Shinra Tower [DigiCube]
  11. edIT – Ants [Planet Mu]
  12. The Cinematic Orchestra – Music Box [Ninja Tune]
  13. Culprate – Whispers Pt.1
  14. The Mars Volta – Son et Lumiere [Universal Records / Gold Standard Laboratories / Strummer Recordings]
  15. Periphery – Icarus Lives! (Instrumental) [Roadrunner Records]
  16. Mick Gordon – Mars Core (Doom Eternal OST) [id Software / Bethesda]
  17. Evil Ex – Mirrors [Blood And Biscuits / Pink Mist]

Luo share closing track ‘Coda’ from incoming Convoluted Mess Machine EP

10 October 2021

We’re excitingly close to the release of Convoluted Mess Machine, the new 4-track EP from Luo. Ahead of its release on October 15th through Art As Catharsis, the Brighton duo of Josh Trinnaman and Barney Sage have let loose the gorgeous closing track ‘Coda’. Speaking about it, they comment:

“It’s the nice pretty melodic one for those of you that aren’t as keen on our other noisy rubbish and wish for a return to that glorious era when we didn’t use distorted guitars
At the time we were listening to a lot of Steve Reich and the riff came out of trying to write something like one of his cool interlocking melodies (think Electric Counterpoint) and then blending that with a heavy dose of influence from Richard Spaven & Telefon Tel Aviv.”

Listen to ‘Coda’ below.

Luo return with new EP Convoluted Mess Machine; listen to lead single ‘Tightrope Tap Dancer’

23 August 2021

Brighton’s Luo, the duo of Josh Trinnaman and Barney Sage, are back with a new EP this October. Entitled Convoluted Mess Machine, the 4-track EP sees them exploring new sonic territory. The pair comments:

“With this EP we really wanted to push some of the darker territory we explored on Unspoken a bit further, whilst also re-incorporating some of the lighter, melodic and more rhythmically complex aspects of earlier Luo material back in – whilst also going in some slightly newer directions we haven’t explored before. We also wanted to see what would happen if we worried less about what we were making as we found we weren’t finishing ideas after feeling anxious they wouldn’t fit in our catalogue or might be alienating.

We have pretty erratic listening & writing habits which comes through in what we make, so in order to make sense of something that doesn’t really make sense, we created the convoluted mess machine as a way of sort of contextualising our creative process and enabling us to justify to ourselves in making any creative decision, letting tracks write themselves, ingesting influences from all over the place and regurgitating them in these weird mutant forms.”

Convoluted Mess Machine arrives on October 15th through Art As Catharsis and ahead of it Luo have shared the superb and intoxicating opening track ‘Tightrope Tap Dancer’. Take a listen now.

Luo drop new single ‘In The Dark’

01 August 2016

Luo - In The DarkBrighton’s Luo have recently shared a new version of ‘In The Dark’, originally released in the 2013 Imprints EP.
Initially birthed as the solo project of electronic musician and producer Josh Trinaman, the band’s live line-up has incorporated a number of different guests. Now a quartet with the addition of Jake Keeble, Rik Coe and Sam Hughes, Luo are gearing up to release their debut album. If the staggering and explosive ‘In The Dark’ is anything to go by, we are in for a treat. Listen to it now.

‘In The Dark’ is out now via Small Pond Recordings.